Middletown, Rhode Island
|
So happy we finally got a beautiful day for Rachel and Spencer’s engagement session! We were originally supposed to do their session when I was last in Newport for a wedding this past May, but unfortunately the weather didn’t cooperate. Thankfully we had the perfect late-August evening for these two this time around.
Rachel and Spencer first met at the West Hartford branch of the University of Connecticut in Spring of 2015. The following fall, they transferred up to the Storrs campus and lived in dorm rooms down the hall from each other. For Spencer it was love at first sight, but Rachel very quickly friend-zoned him. After a little bit of time and a lot of persistence things became serious, and they officially began dating in summer of 2016. Almost eight years later and they’re planning their wedding!
Spencer popped the question last summer at his brother’s house in Westbrook, CT. As he tells it, “Rachel and I had always dreamed about getting married on Martha’s Vineyard. Rachel’s family has had a house on the island for almost eighty years! At the time, I thought we would try to have a Martha’s Vineyard wedding so, instead of having our closest friends and family travel to the island twice for us, I asked my brother if I could do the proposal on the beach two minutes from his house.”
“The day itself was stressful, to say the least! The whole day I was making sure we stuck to a timeline, when 4 pm hit I wanted to get Rachel out the door and heading down to the beach. Of course, on Friday afternoon, through Middletown, CT we didn’t hit one ounce of traffic. Now we are 10-15 minutes ahead of schedule. The plan was, when we were 10 minutes out my Mom was supposed to text me that they had all walked down to the beach and for us to meet them there. Of course because we were ahead of schedule, no text came. I was panicking, and texted my mom to ask “if they needed us to grab anything” and then boom came the text.”
“Rachel immediately starts complaining to me about how everyone walked down to the beach without us and asking why they couldn’t have just waited for us to get there! I just said, “Yeah sounds like something my family would do.” Once we arrived at the house, all of our siblings and friends were hiding quietly in the detached garage waiting for us to walk down to the beach so they could finish setting up the surprise engagement party that was planned for after I popped the question! Of course, Rachel wanted to bring in our bags, and settle in before walking down to the water. So, I carried our bags upstairs, came back down and had one foot out the door as Rachel was still wandering around the house and taking her sweet time. Finally, after getting her out of the house and down the driveway, we start to head to the beach. As we get to the sand, she starts to take her sandals off and just walk down the path to the beach. Meanwhile, I am ripping my sneakers off to try and make sure she doesn’t round the corner without me.”
“Once I caught up with her, she didn’t see anyone else but my parents. I began to say my piece and walk her to a path of shells, candles and roses which led to a heart in the sand with “R+S” in the middle of it. Her first response was “no” for the record — but once her parents came out of hiding and she fully grasped what was happening, she just began to blurt “yes!” instead. I had to tell her that I hadn’t even asked her yet — once I said my piece and got down on one knee, the rest is history!”
Rachel’s ring is a solitaire round diamond with a six-prong, platinum setting, and it’s exactly what she wanted! As Rachel told me, “We didn’t pick it out together, but my mom’s ring is very similar, and I always made it known how much I love her ring!”
These two recently got an adorable Bernese Mountain Dog puppy named Quinnah, who also came along to their session to my absolute delight! Together, Rachel and Spencer love spending time with their biological dog daughter, eating at their favorite restaurant Sayulita, drinking spicy margs, going to the beach, working out, and watching tv together. Rachel has also decided that this year she is going to be Spencer’s copilot on the golf course, as long as she has a cold drink in one hand and her Kindle in the other.
I’m so excited for their wedding next June at Smith Farm Gardens in East Haddam, Connecticut — it’s going to be the best day!
